As part of his ongoing quest to cut costs at Twitter, Elon Musk has for weeks neglected to pay rent for the company’s global offices as well as its San Francisco headquarters, according to a new report.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, The New York Times reported that Twitter has failed to pay its bills since Musk took over the company earlier this year. His team is reportedly trying to renegotiate the leases, triggering complaints from real estate firms like Shorenstein, which owns Twitter’s San Francisco buildings.

Cutting back on rent is only the latest cost-saving measure Musk has mulled for the micro-blogging platform, which he formally acquired for US$44bil . He took over the site on Oct 27 and immediately started making changes and trimming the fat.

The same day the acquisition was complete, Musk fired top executives, removed the company’s board of directors and installed himself as the lone board member. Days later, Twitter laid off approximately half of its 7,500-member workforce, with Musk citing a lack of revenue.

Leaders at the company have also recently discussed the consequences of withholding severance payments to those affected by the mass layoffs, two people familiar with the talks said. The cuts reportedly hit an estimated 3,700 jobs across the social media site, including more than 900 in California.

Musk has also overhauled Twitter’s subscription service, Twitter Blue, in an effort to generate new revenue for the platform. The updated service launched on Dec 12, after Musk delayed the launch back in November. Twitter Blue costs US$8 a month for web users and US$11 a month for iOS users who purchase it through Apple’s App Store.

The company has even laid off its kitchen staff and started to auction off office supplies, industrial-grade kitchen equipment and electronics from its San Francisco office.

Meanwhile, Twitter has suspended an account tracking Musk’s private plane, fuelling questions about the platform’s commitment to free speech.

The bot-operated account @ElonJet was no longer visible Dec 14. In its place was a message stating, “Twitter suspends accounts that violate the Twitter Rules.”

It’s unclear what rules may have been violated. Twitter didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The suspension comes more than a month after Musk wrote in a Nov 6 tweet that his commitment to free speech “extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk”.

Twitter says it forbids “targeted harassment”, as well as the publishing of “private information”, though the account that was suspended - which has more than 500,000 followers - uses data available to the public.

The @ElonJet page was started by college student Jack Sweeney. Musk offered Sweeney US$5,000 to take down the account in January, according to the website Protocol.

“Can you take it down?” Musk reportedly asked in a direct message. “It’s a security risk.”

Sweeney reportedly made a counteroffer asking for US$50,000 and a Tesla, a vehicle from the electric car company owned by Musk. The 51-year-old entrepreneur is said to have declined.

 - TNS